Home is where the heart is
We took a trip to the north-east to Portugal last week to visit one of my university chums whom we hadn´t seen for about five years. I´ve been keeping in touch with her on a regular basis though, especially ever since we´ve both discovered the wonders of Skype. Still, nothing beats seeing one another in the flesh. When we finally met up last Saturday afternoon in a car park on the edge of town, which had seemed a convenient place for us to stop and phone my friend, her opening words were: “I´ve lived in Évora all my life but I´ve never been in this car park before.” “Hi Noca, good to see you too!”
We had a fantastic time with our friend and her family and were shown round Évora which we liked very much. Noca took us to the Capela dos Ossos (literally the Chapel of Bones) which allegedly contains over 5000 human skeletons. As you enter, an inscription in the marble above the doorway greets you: “Nós ossos que aqui estamos, pelos vossos esperamos.” (Our bones that are here, are awaiting yours.) Inside, various parts of skeletons cover the walls and even the central pillars are decorated with skulls. Hanging from the wall at the far end of the chapel were two mummified corpses. Classical music and subdued lighting created a very sombre and gloomy atmosphere and I had to nod in agreement when I overheard a group of German tourists whisper to one another: “Lets get the hell out of here!”
I really did like Portugal and I hope that this first visit won´t be my last. The people were very friendly and helpful and it would have been even more enjoyable if I had been able to communicate a little more even though you can easily get by with Spanish and English. Portuguese is a strange language though. Lots of ´sh` sounds and every word seems to melt into the next. After a very pleasant weekend we waved goodbye to Noca, in the hope that we won´t have to wait another five years until we see one another again.
Instead of returning to the Málaga province straight away though, we made our way across the border to Extremadura which Ian wanted to explore with the possibility of relocating there, should we like what we saw. The region covers a vast area, so we only really managed to scratch the surface in the time we had available by looking at the historic towns of Cáceres and Trujillo and especially took to the latter which is well worth a visit. We stayed a total of two nights: the first at a newly refurbished little hostal in the town centre and the second in a beautifully converted former olive mill, tucked away in the countryside, just outside Trujillo. A fantastic place and definitely an unforgettable experience for us. (For more information, see: www.fincasantamarta.com)
Driving back to the Sierra de las Nieves, we felt quite relieved that we had finally (after an entire year of searching and wondering) decided on the area where we wanted to settle down. All we have to do now is find a suitable house and then we can start to put down some proper roots. As far as Extremadura is concerned, we´ll definitely go back for a visit but as they say ´home is where the heart is` and our hearts are definitely here in the Sierra de las Nieves.
Capela dos Ossos in Évora - human skulls decorate pillars
Gloomy: two hanging mummified corpses in the Capela dos Ossos
Plaza Mayor in Trujillo, Extremadura
Finca Santa Marta